If all that wasn't enough, as of tomorrow (29th January) you'll be able to download the sublime Metroid Prime Trilogy, which like the first two games will temporarily be sold for the bargain price of £8.99 / €9.99 / $9.99. In our Metroid Prime Trilogy review back in 2009 we awarded the game a solid 10/10 and concluded by saying "Retro has done a bang-up job in creating a polished compilation of their brand of Metroid games, which are considered some of the best adventures around. If you haven't experienced Tallon IV, Aether or become corrupt, you owe it to yourself to get on this, and veterans can still find enough thrills and upgrades to make Trilogy a worthwhile endeavour".

Metroid Prime Trilogy is undoubtedly well worth the launch asking price on the Wii U eShop, in fact it's a terrific bargain. While the other Wii games listed above are all excellent, meanwhile, none of them command astronomical prices on well-known auction sites; in fact some of them can now be found in the bargain bins of well known retailers for only a few bucks. This is not true of Metroid Prime Trilogy, however, as it had a relatively low print run at the time and since its release it has become something of a collector's item.

Let's take a quick look how some recent eBay auctions for the beloved game ended just before the big Nintendo Direct surprise:

In the UK auction the game sold for an impressive £102 in one of many similar examples.

In the U.S. there were a few sealed copies of the game sold within the $300 region. Even copies of the game which were not sealed achieved a similar value.

You can probably guess where we are going with this. Here is an example of how an auction ended in the UK after the Nintendo Direct:

Most sellers would probably be delighted with £27 for a second hand Wii game, but following the high values achieved during early January this must be a big disappointment.

In the U.S. after the Nintendo Direct reveal the value of the game plummeted even more dramatically; in this example the auction ended at just $40.

While the examples above offer only a snapshot into the ever decreasing value of Metroid Prime Trilogy physical copies, we scoped out many auctions before and after the last Nintendo Direct and observed the same trend.

We reached out to a few of the post-Nintendo Direct sellers and a gentleman who wished to remain nameless gave us this statement:

Yeah bro, I saw the crazy $ that Metroid Trilogy was selling for so I thought it would be a awesome time to sell mine too. I'm a lifelong Nintendo fan and have completed all the Metroid games. I was gonna sell this to fund the purchase of a Wii U funnily enough. When the auction ended at $45 I couldn't believe it, I was expecting to make 5x that amount. I honestly had no idea that this game was gonna be a $9 download on Wii U!!! I was tempted for a moment to just pull out of the auction, but that would suck for the winning bidder so I couldn't do that. Oh well, I'm still gonna buy a Wii U anyway... I'll be downloading Metroid as soon as I get it too!

What are your thoughts on the impact of the Nintendo Direct announcement on the fortunes of these eBay sellers? Do you feel a bit sorry for the more recent sellers misfortunes, or do you think they got what they deserved for being greedy capitalists? Will you be picking up Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii U eShop tomorrow? If so, do you think it's the bargain of the century now that you have seen some of the pre-Nintendo Direct auctions?

Darren is Nintendo Life’s Batman: fearless in the face of danger, he loves gadgets and talking in a really, really deep voice. As Operations Director he stays mostly behind the scenes in a room he insists on calling “The Batcave”.

Uhm... this person is selling his/her Prime trilogy. Complains that it went for such low a price. And then proclaims that he/she is going to purchase it from the eshop as soon as he/she gets a WiiU. Uh... am I the only one not understanding the logic here?

I thought about selling it a while ago for a ridiculous amount of money but in the end, common sense prevailed and I decided to keep hold of it along with my Zelda collectors disc for GC, and OOT & MM for N64

@Kitchener Why the hard feelings? This is not a case of people buying something with the intention of selling it for more. It's just a game that happened to become more expensive, so it sucks for any regular owner of the game to see its price plummeting.This is not like those people preordering dozens of Majora's Mask New 3DS subsequently selling their preorders for a profit.

I am puzzled by 1 thing about certain games. Like Metroid Prime trilogy it used Wi-Fi connection. It's the token parts how would you collect them now. Would it use the Nintendo Network or just be disabled?I liked taking screen shots

I can see both sides of the argument. I collect Nintendo products. I collect Nintendo products because they give me a sense of joy. However, when I'm old and grey and my fingers don't work like they once used to maybe I'd like to sell my Nintendo collection for a tidy sum and go on a world cruise or a trip to Mars. If Nintendo keep re-releasing their stuff then my collection will be worth diddly squat and that does sort of upset me a little. It's nice that it's giving people a chance to play games they've missed though.

They should add Xenoblade Chronicles to these Wii-U downloads. Heck lots of people getting the upcoming sequel would really appreciate getting its predecessor and getting it at introductory price. I would definitely cheer on that release. I may get the Metroid game, I never played it.

@KeeperBvKLet's just say that I do not believe that supply and demand dictates the price of a product or a service.This is the ideal of unscrupulous pustules.The price must be dictated by the cost of manufacturing plus the needed funds for further research and development, nothing else.If you should choose to sell a product after owning it for some time, the price should only cover your expenses.

Great move by Nintendo by not only putting the MPT on the eShop, but putting on the eShop for only $10 during the first week. Can't say I feel sorry for people who sell games for astronomical prices. I understand wanting to gain some profit but some MPT prices I've seen are insane.

I'll be downloading it day 1 on eShop. Probably the best deal in gaming since The Orange Box.

I am glad I could foresee it would become a sort of rarity, So I'm glad to have bought mine on release day in Europe. Again, I have no need to have any of these games on Wii U because I already own the physical discs, but I hope no one who never played any "Metroid Prime" passes this up. The music from each of the three games alone is worth the ten moneys.

I don't feel sorry for these people at all. If you brought it with the intent of enjoying it? Then you got what you paid for. If I was in that boat I'd think of reselling as simply a way to get someone else to enjoy it, not a way to make a buck. Something that is better served by it being available digitally anyways. Which is something you should be celebrating

If you brought the item with the intent of making a mint out of it? Then you're an idiot. When did this idea that you can make a profit out of your old games start? And I'm sorry, but the dudes selling original sealed copies of 5yr old games? Those guys are in the same boat as the people who are scalping Amiibos.

The more gaming companies do things like this, particularly if it's unpredictable, the better the whole market will be for consumers

I have the Collectors edition, purchased on release day and played to death. Very very happy that others will have the opportunity to play these masterpieces at an insanely affordable price. I hope (but doubt) they include a digital version of the little artwork booklet too.

As someone who resales things for a living; you have to respect the fact that this is part of the game. Ruby and Sapphire for the GBA's bloated value has come down some since the release of omega and alpha.

@Haru17 Well, "Scalpers" are usually people, who go in at launch day of Product X, buy the whole stock and sell it at double price.But these people online, that hog physical game copys just to sell them for ridiculous amounts of money often fall in the same category.

All in all, these people are filth.And every wrench thrown into their plan is a good one.

Some games seem to dip in price post VC release, and some do not. Shantae and Earthbound originals certainly don't seem to be dropping much after their release! Maybe it's because MP Trilogy is a lot newer.

Nintendo should make ALL their games available on the eShop. That guy sounds nice but there are too many people speculating with rare Nintendo games. I still want to get Conker's Bad Fur Day for Nintendo 64 but the prices are so expensive. That game is old, okay, but there you are the first PAL New Nintendo 3DS console that were sold for a much higher price even before they arrived at the sellers' homes.

Nothing really wrong with these guys selling the games at auction, and the buyers deciding they want to pay crazy money for it by bidding it up to that price. Auctions let the buyers decide how much an item is worth, can't fault the seller in this situation. What is scalping is sellers forcing buyers to pay crazy money with no leeway, in this case it would be a buy it now listing for a stupid amount of money.

@19Robb92Oh boy."That's not how things work" is the refuge of those who would only seek to uphold the status quo as long as it is in their gain.If your deciding motivation for creating is profit, society would greatly benefit from your abstinence. Someone else will create it, if it is needed.The PS3 should have been sold more expensive at launch."Then it would not have sold enough".Yes, and? You tried, you failed, there is no shame in this.Parts on Sony might need to be closed, workers laid off.As long as you have a government with a proper wellfare system this is not a problem that will not be corrected.

It's ten dollars?! Wow, I need to jump on that! I won't have an external hard drive to download it for a while, though. If I buy it tomorrow for ten bucks, could I download it maybe next month when I can get a hard drive?

@Crimzonlogic Yes as itl add to your Down Loads / Perchest softwere ect -cant wate fore this been so annoyed I culdnt afford it New on relece (was in coledge at the time and thats where litrly all my cash went on food suplies and equipment -_-) id have loved the Phisical CE ver with the book and all but im just happy il finnaly get this game cant wate to replay Metroid Prime 2 Echos with the Wii Controls (being my fav Prime game too)

@DdFixen he was going to use the funds from the sale of Metroid trilogy towards a new WiiU. Game didn't sell for that much, but still sold it on to the buyer anyway. In turn he will still invest in a WiiU and will also pay the 20quid for the trilogy so Nintendo, not scalpers, get his money anyway.

Not hard to understand really.

The price of Metroid Prime Trilogy disc will go back up in price, just not as high as 300. But will take a year or two.

I bought my copy a year ago, new but not sealed for £65. Am I upset? No not at all, as it gives everyone a chance to play this amazing game at a dirt cheap price.

It's still a rare collectors item regardless if it's available as a digital download. Look at what's available on VC from the SNES era and then see what some of games go for on EBay. Zelda LTTP goes upward from £100 for a decent copy.

I'm now hoping that the retail Kirby's adventure now drops in price when it becomes available for download.

This may be a bit rude but I couldn't care less about someone else's copy of the game losing a lot of its value. This gives all players the chance to get the trilogy without forking over an arm or a leg in the process and for that I thank Nintendo since I will be picking it up day one!

@CTs_Lieutenant With the big exception being rare products, many people seem to be somewhat fine buying at scalper prices for the Majora's Mask 3D New 3DS XL because they gather that they'll never have another chance to get it.

So, what I'm getting from this comment section is that the moment I sell a game used I'm a scalper and lower than dirt. The game is four years old, so I wouldn't think the term would stretch that far back. It's a shame I won't be able to sell my gaming library if I ever get into money-trouble without being branded a criminal.

@readyletsgo The part I didn't understand was that if you sell a game, then I suppose you're not interested in playing it anymore. Yet, you're complaining about the selling price and declare you're going to download it later on. Why don't keep the game to begin with? Ah, whatevs, I hyped for this, and that's all I care about.

Someone selling a 5+ year old, rare and out of print video game, is not a 'scalper'. It's someone who is making a deserved profit on something that somebody obviously wants because of its collectibility and rarity.

If someone puts a copy of Earthbound for the SNES on eBay and starts the auction at $30 (because that's all they are looking for) and it ends up selling for $180...how does that make them the bad guy? Obviously the market has dictated that it's value is much more than that, and that someone willingly bid on it and feels that the game is worth that much to them. Should they make it a 'buy it now' auction and be forced to sell it for just $10? Of course not.

The people who complain about this are truly lacking intelligence and the basic understanding of supply and demand.

Also, many other older/rare games on the VC have physical copies selling for $20-50 regularily in stores and online. The people who pay these high prices for old games will continue to do so even though they are available as $5 downloads because they want the original physical copy. That is what they are paying for. It's a collectible for them.

Just having a rare game made available on the VC does not mean that physical copies of the game are going to hit rock bottom on the resale market.

I hope that all of you guys whining and moaning about this remember to maintain their strong moral ground on this issue when you go to a yard sale and find a copy of the rare NES game 'Stadium Events'. Be sure to only resell the game on eBay for $5, because it's old and that's all it is worth. Don't sell it for $10,00+ which the free market (and collectors) would gladly pay for it!!

Because the guy is selling a physical copy for $40+ to someone who wants it even more than he does, making a $30 profit, then buying a downloadable copy for $10 because he is happy with that.

Not really that hard to understand. He made $30 for free. The only problem I'm having is wrapping my head around the fact that you find this logic hard to understand.

"If he sold his car to someone for $100,000....then turned around and repurchased the same car from someone else for $20,000...why wouldn't he have just kept his car in the first place!? It makes no sense!" <--- this is pretty much the situation you are having trouble understanding.

@Kitchener So a game is rare, and only one copy is being sold, and three people want to buy it. So who gets it? These three people came at about the same time, so nobody really arrived first. They all saw it at once. The listed price is $20, but person 1 is willing to pay $20, person 2 is willing to pay $20, and person 3 is willing to pay $40. Who should get it with your line of thinking?

Also, a problem with the article. You're comparing new prices before to the auction to used priced afterwards. There was a always going to be a sizable gap between those too, and while the download should devalue the game a bit, the article fails to properly show the difference becaue of this.

@Jaz007One will always be first.If you must construct an academic exercise wherein all buyers offer to purchase an item at the exact same time, the seller may sell to whoever they choose. Though preferably decided by a raffle of sorts.The price, however, remains untouched.

The one that sold before the direct was brand new which of course would drive up the price.

Estocks always have low buy it now prices half the time they don't no what the true value of a item is & will always try to be the cheapest price on eBay or Amazon. They are selling the items they get from people selling them to music magpie. Estocks list with no information so you'd not no if it comes with manuals box or even cover.

But I did the same thing with SMG2 two weeks ago. Sold on my copy for €8 to CEX and paid €9.99 for my digital copy the next day. Aka: Nintendo got my money in full.
I will be doing the same if other Wii title's come out that I have already. Just don't want to hold onto the Wii discs anymore.

@KitchenerI didn't ask if it should have been sold at a higher price, I asked why it wasn't. Since you do not belive in supply/demand as determinants of the market, how do you explain why the Ps3 was sold at a lower price?

I hate that the value has dropped, but this will bring in more money for Nintendo rather than eBay resellers, and with a game series that incredible, they deserve it. I'm fine with it; I still don't regret picking up my Collector's Edition for $50 when it came out.

To those who were trying to gouge consumers with overly-inflated auction prices on E-Bay, I say "boo hoo". Get over yourselves, it's about time that all classic Nintendo games find their way to the E-Shop at bargain prices. Nintendo should be the ones profiting off of their games in the first place, not some obese basement dwellers.

Why did they?Maybe because they feared that the demand for their product would decrease if it seemed to expensive to consumers.Maybe they hoped that the PS3 would sell enough to dominate the console market, thereby providing them with a profit through game sales.

However the PS3 was, according to Hirai, was not profitable until 4 years after it's launch.

And yes, @MasterBlaster, I am a socialist and, by Jove, capitalists are the scurge of civil rights and liberties.Corporations are, most decidedly, not people.I see you like using the word "loser" and implying that smart businesspeople are somehow "winners". I weep for the misery such ideals might sow.

@MasterBlaster Doesn't matter anymore now does it? I'm happy to see the prices plummet on E-Bay, not just because it's better for the consumer but because it's going to make some guy butthurt over the fact that he's going to have a much harder time getting $300 off of it going forward.

Luckily, I got a used PAL copy in almost perfect condition, cardboard sleeve included, at GameStop in Germany for only 30 euro only last year. Little later I saw a NEW copy being sold at a reduced price for 40 euro at some second-rate electronics market; later I regretted that I didn't buy it in order to resell it (as I had no idea the game was so valuable, because, as I said, I got it for 30 at GameStop only a few weeks before). However, now I may be lucky, because if I still hadn't resold it, the price had dropped by now.

I'm sorry, what? You're making it sound like Nintendo should care about second hand game sellers. Why the hell would they? Nintendo make no profit off of it, people who want the game can now access it more easily, and collectors or people who try to profit off of second hand sales lose some value, because what they're doing is in essence a gamble. This is such a non-issue.

The only people I feel sorry for are those who bought the game for an inflated price because they wanted to play it, only for it to come out cheaply on the eShop, but that's how the economy works, and sales/dips in prices always lead to that. It's nothing new.

Some guy who bought the game years ago for around $30-40 is still going to make his money back, or more, by selling the game on eBay today or in the future.

The Mega Man games can be purchased for $4.99 on VC but a quick eBay search sees physical copies selling for $20-60.

People are paying a premium (willingly) to own something collectible. They are not paying a high price because they want to just play the game. They want to own a piece of their childhood/gaming history.

I don't see the confusion. When he put it up for auction he thought he'd get a couple hundred bucks for it to buy a Wii-U, he's making good on the sale even though he'd rather keep it at the price it sold for - but the silver lining is that he gets to download it for $10.

You know, reading the comment of the reseller kinda makes him seem like a pretty cool dude. While legit surprised, it's not like he was cursing Nintendo's name or acting entitled. Heck, he even said that he could've cancelled the auction, but took the winning bidder into consideration. That says a lot about his character.

I'm pretty neutral about resellers getting screwed over in this situation, because this is an old limited edition product. Chances are, most of the items sold are used farther down the line (as they should be) and weren't bought up en mass by one person JUST for the reseller to profit off of desperate fans on launch day.

I sold mine the night of the direct. I made $50. So that's $40 profit after getting the digital version this week. I'm a collector too, and now I get to have several more games. $40 worth to be exact. Thank you Nintendo. It's going towards the new 3ds.

I've been attempting to find this game for a sensible price for a good year now, and had no luck. I've never gotten into the metroid games and figured this would be a good place to start, you can imagine my disappointment when they were fetching upwards of 100 on ebay, I can't afford that kind of money for one game! I couldn't be more thrilled at this priced download, I can't wait to play it. I feel like nintendo have heard my cries, anyone who's a true nintendo fan won't be interested to losing money on their owned title, they'll be happy to see others like me who get to finally experience these games

A physical copy and a download are quite different things, one you own and can resell if you want, the other is worthless in regard to exchange or resale the moment you purchase it.
In regards to collectable or rare computer games, they are worth what someone is willing to pay at that time, and that can vary whether the game can be downloaded or not.
I do think having a legitimate download purchase option is a great thing, where a game has become rare or expensive, or you don't have the system / physical copy. That's what made the Virtual Console on the Wii such a good idea!

As someone who owns the retail game, I'm thrilled that it's being released digitally on Wii U. What a fantastic deal for anyone who wants to just play the game!

The funny part is that, although taking a hit right now, the resale value of a sealed physical copy will probably rebound because it's still something that has a relatively low print run and is desired by collectors. Just look at the article earlier today discussing how Zelda Ocarina of Time (physical) is highly desirable despite having a digital version freely available.

Collectors can still collect, gamers can enjoy playing... it's the best of both worlds.

I'm not a collector and I don't feel that Nintendo owes the collecting community an apology. As far as I'm concerned, collecting is a risk and should only be done for the love of gathering items/games/cards/figures for their own personal enjoyment. If you're collecting in hopes of making a profit then that's the risk you take.

It's the risk of being a collector. No market is 100% stable. Since things have started going digital, I've been clearing out my own game collection of anything other than what I want to keep personally. I still have my steelbook Metroid Prime Trilogy and I will likely keep it. Keep in mind though, the prices will likely rebound eventually, as the announcement probably caused a shockwave of sellers throwing theirs on ebay which flooded the market, though they may not achieve the all-time highs again.

After time spent tracking down the trilogy copy and getting it at normal retail price from Tesco a few years back, I'm not upset about it coming to the Wii U for the £8.99 price. Day 1 purchase for my Wii U any day of the week and would still buy the HD remastered copy thereafter if they ever made it.

"I was only restating the belief that the person I was responding to had shared"
I did not pick up on that, I apologize.

The pursuit of personal material gain is the most powerful source of inequality between individuals.
Capitalism is the pursuit of personal material gain.

I see you can't help take a stab at a public education system.
Unlike the unfortunate citizens in your suffering nation we do not believe that a person is only worth as much as their wallet holds.
As a result we have proper public education free of religious or political dogma and a public health service that would make your insurance moguls poopitypoop their bowels out in fear.

Do you honestly mean, with twice our unemployment rate and an income gap the size the Milky Way, to proclaim capitalistic rule superior to socialism?

This article is strange. You make it seem like online sellers are up in arms against Nintendo selling old games for a reasonable price, but it's just one person that you contacted that's mildy disappointed. Good job inventing (non)news!

@VIIIAxel They don't make it easy to make classic Pokemon games though. Pokemon RBY, GSC, Pokemon Stadium and 2. Or one of the most underrated game Star Wars Pod Racer. Hopefully, with all this movement Nintendo will add those.

@skywake I don't agree. You should have the right to sell whatever you want. If you bought a game, and want some money back from your purchase to buy NEW games, and your done with your old game, then I believe it's totally in your right to sell your game. I sold my Xbox 360 library on ebay to buy a Wii U. And I'm so glad that I did. I'm a college student who works a part time job, and I don't have enough money to throw around willy nilly at video games all the time, so selling my old video games helped me to buy NEW ones.

@bizcuthammer I doubt it will come until at least a year after the remake comes to the New 3DS, as releasing it any time sooner not would only hinder the remake's sales, but also quite possibly the New 3DS's sales as well.Even so, I'm sure the New 3DS version wil be $10 cheaper than GameStop's stupid used price for the Wii version.

Obviously you're having a tough time grasping the fact that E-Bay prices are already going down on the Metroid Prime Trilogy since the announcement of its release in the E-Shop. Sure, people will still want to collect them, but the vast majority of people buying the game are buying it so they can play it. Unfortunately until now the supply was so low that people were gouging consumers on the price. Now that it's being released on the VC there's no need to have to spend upwards of $300 to play it on one's own system.

I think its great for those who never got to play the games. But the collectors will still buy the discs, and the price will go up after the initial release, because in the end its a physical and rare print item. Digital has no value, you cannot trade it, lend it, or sell it, so the value is in the enjoyment you get out of it, and for $10, thats a lot! But that's it, there is no dollar value to a digital game.

It's good that Nintendo games hold value. So all the people saying screw scalpers these people are not. It's not like they brought the game & thought I know these will making a killing on eBay & hold value.

If anything it's Nintendo fault for not meeting the demand for the game in the first place with enough physical copies. Meaning due to low numbers available more money when people sell on eBay.

This happens with loads of Nintendo games even going back to NES & SNES games they hold value. It's a good thing people so saying screw eBay sellers are just silly. A lot of people need to sell games for many reasons. And the fact Nintendo games hold value is a bonus unlike Sony or Xbox games which turn from £40.00 into £0.99 if your lucky.

Also I've already made the point they still are worth value & Nintendo Life article is wrong!

The one that sold before the direct was brand new which of course would drive up the price.Estocks always have low buy it now prices half the time they don't no what the true value of a item is & will always try to be the cheapest price on eBay or Amazon. They are selling the items they get from people selling them to music magpie. Estocks list with no information so you'd not no if it comes with manuals box or even cover.One sold yesterday - 171655613592Total price - £63.99So this article is rubbish!

Welcome to a digital world where supplies are theoretically infinite. However, the boxed copies will always hold value because eventually the digital copies will have their server shut down. I predict an initial crash as people that are not collectors go for the cheap digital copies, leaving the physical market only to a smaller group of physical collectors.

@Mayhem I think that's because part of the demand that's driving the trilogy up is just the desire to play the damn game. Whereas with Earthbound, it's very easy to emulate on any computer, so accessibility to playing it is comparatively much higher.

I'm not one of those collector types but I must admit I love my copy with its sexy metal case. Did anyone confirm if it's strictly motion control or pro controller compatible? Mind you the controls were just top notch so no concern of mine but I wouldn't mind trying out the pro controller on it.

This is an uninformed comparison. You're comparing two sealed copies with two used/scratched up copies (1 incomplete collectors missing outer sleeve and 1 non-collectors edition w/ a stock photo). Plus the person selling the incomplete collectors version has only "3" feedback, killing their chances of making much on the sale.

If there's one thing I've learned as a collector, digital releases have no effect on the value of physical.

@EinherjarIts actually rare that one makes a large profit from collecting video games. I bought Metroid Prime Trilogy as a preorder, same with Panzer Dragoon Saga. If I had sold MPT for $299 or so... that could be profit, but consider the 300+ other games I also bought on preorder at $60 or so.

While I am sure a few people might be disappointed, but those would be the ones that bought MPT for $200+ recently.

Scalpers are not the same as collectors; outside of a game's launch window it is usually impossible to predict its value on the second-hand market. The only predictability would be that niche titles like JRPGs tend to keep or be just below their sale value.

@CrimsonMoonMist if that's what you're getting from the comments section, I suggest you work on your reading and critical thinking skills. There's a difference between trading in/selling a game you don't want anymore, and buying games with the major purpose to resell it at higher value and make money.

The fact that these games are now at 9$ whether for each or for all just shows how old the games are now. If they were new, the games would be in HD with DLC and exclusive game content.

I don't mind downloading games that were generations old like the gamecube or the GBA but the for the new generation, I tend to avoid it because it takes a LOT of space and it somehow doesn't feel like a collection. Also, there is at any point that the game will be delisted in the digital store whereas even if the production of games end for a generation, they can still be bought at cheap prices.

I got my CE from gamestop a few years back for $70. Surprisingly they actually had 2 of them in stock. And there's still something about having the physical copy in that shiny metalbook that a download could never replace.

@BensonUii I suspect that's probably a reason for those two staying high, yes.

@DiscoGentleman But that's a reverse argument to my point. The only real way people can play Metroid Prime Trilogy currently is to have the physical Wii release. You can play Earthbound and Shantae via downloaded ROMs in emulation, or through the VC, or a physical cartridge. And yet, those two have held their price despite the availability in piracy or legit VC.

This is how digital should be done. Let the scalpers, scammers and hoarders (also the odd legitimate collector), fight over the physical copy. If you can buy the digital copy for a great price, most people will not care about the physcial copy as most people actually just want to play the game!!!!!

I am one who has remained almost 100% physical with the Wii U, but if the games were a little cheaper digitally, I would not care and there's no reason why they shouldn't be cheaper. No packaging, inventory management, distribution costs etc... digital is a huge rip off at even a modest discount.

I own the disc and will keep it. I just wish Nintendo would patch in the ability to launch Wii games from the Wii U page instead of taking the stupid step into booting into the Wii OS. Can't that all be done behind the scenes??

I wonder why some people like to think that every seller is a scalper. If you can make a profit of something you have, and someone is willing to pay for it is not a bad thing. I mean, if you bought 20 copies, well, yeah, that's bad, but if you're just trying to sell your own copy is quite understandable

The game was only selling for $50 on average used on eBay with the exceptions of sealed and collectors editions that were going for more. You have to compare the correct copies to each other and consider weather or not they are sealed. It's not unheard of for this game to sell for $40 and we don't know what he was charging for shipping either.

@skywake I sold mine for $60 last year and after shipping I didn't make any profit off of the game above and beyond the original $50 I spent on the game and the $10 shipping. I completely agree with your point.

I don't understand all the hate toward people selling games. There's nothing evil about it. It's really no different than buying stocks low and selling when they're high. I sell games to help fund my video game hobby, and I don't see anything wrong with it. I feel bad for those who took a loss compared to what they were expecting, but that is just how the market goes. I've experienced similar losses in the past.

@biglittlejake I was referring more to Prime Trilogy, I just worded that wrong. I agree that Nintendo should try to get more rare games out like this one. However, the last time I checked, Pokemon games were not that rare. I got a copy of Silver a few years ago for $15-$20 (Don't remember the specific amount).

Hehehe. I always sell games before a Nintendo Direct. Once, they announced GBA VC games, so I immediately sold a GBA game for $40 online. Bought it on VC for $8 7 months later. My old copy now goes for $15.

Likewise, I sold REturn to Dreamland for $45- I'll soon be picking it up again for $8. Awww yeah

Such a non issue. Prices will drop, but will rebound within the year, especially on sealed copies. People, myself included, like to have that physical copy they can hold and touch, so there will always be a market for that. What this will help the most are people that are not interested in collecting games physically, and they can go play it for a ton less and legally.

I will never sell my copy though, unless I need to save myself financially someday. My game probably wouldn't fetch much of a price anyways. The steel book case was stolen from my house a while ago. Rotten thieves.

I'm not getting this, I already have MP1 and MP3. I plan to get MP2 for the Gamecube sometime. Besides, I don't want to have to go through that cutscene right after Modgenar in Prime 3 again. shudder I don't like Metroid Prime 3...

A somewhat disingenuous comparison. The first two listings are for "New" (and presumably sealed) copies of the game, whereas the second two listings are for used copies in "Good" and "Very Good" condition.

The high prices of the first two listings are certainly influenced by the collectibility factor of having brand new copies. I imagine the used sales are in fact affected by the imminent eShop release, but sealed copies will continue to sell at high prices.

If Nintendo was really smart they'd do more runs of rare or limited Amiibos to eliminate that 3rd party market as well. Look how much the less-common Amiibos go for on eBay and all that money Nintendo is leaving on the table.

I was estatic when MPT was going to be available ... I've been trying to play this game for years but did not want to pay the price for it... Now bring on the Fire emblem games and any other rare Wii RPG I miss out on and wanted to play but did not want to pay the price for it...

Really, this is stupid. Why even bother showing how much sealed copies sold for? The people who paid for those have no intention of ever playing it. And how much the used copy goes for doesn't matter either. If I didn't already own it, I would still rather pay $50 for the original than download it for Wii U. This is like calling people who want the authentic Earthbound cartridge bitter because it's only $10 on Wii U. There's something to be said for owning a physical copy - especially in comparison to a download that isn't even on the original console.

What's cooler, having a copy of Super Mario Bros. in a folder on your Wii U? Or being able to point the original five screw cartridge you have on your shelf?

Gamestop reprinting copies of Metroid Prime Trilogy did far more to the market than the digital download. The base version stopped being rare a while ago. If you have a complete copy of the collector's edition you are still looking at $70-$100 easy. If you have a new copy....people are still paying hundreds for it. That is because those are still rare physical versions you can't get elsewhere. The pictures of this article are laughable. You have one random UK version, a steelbox only version with a guy with 3 feedback, and a brand new version. Of course those will have totally different payouts. The base version is still going between $40-$50 which is exactly what you'd pay at Gamestop. All the digital version did was add some more copies into the market place for those looking to get value for their physical and just download the digital. The market will even itself out soon enough.

I found the Collector's Edition with the metal case used in almost mint condition for around $40 a few years back in a Blockbuster. Giddily grabbed the game from the shelf the moment I saw it and since then I still feel really lucky I found it. Even if I didn't had it, I'd still rather have the physical disc instead of a download from the eshop (and I'd rather have the digital game instead of buying the used game on a normal game box Gamestop has had on sale for a while), but if more people get to play it, that's good I guess.

Something similar happened when I waned to get ICO for the PS2, the moment they announced an HD release on the PS3 the normally $50-$60 bids lowered exponentially. I managed to get an (again) almost mint condition used copy of the game. It's great to have these kind of games, even if digital sales and remasters make them less valuable.

I can't believe you guys called Ebay resellers greedy capitalists!!! Truly, a UK website!!! I own the disc and I have no plans on selling it. As far as the greedy capitalists, that is a risk you take and every business has risks. I wouldn't feel sorry or happy for them either way, a business is a business.

It's not a big deal. I paid about $50 for the game last year and don't regret that. I'm glad the game will be available at an insanely affordable price to many people who may otherwise never have gotten to play them. For collectors, physical copies will always hold value which digital downloads, for obvious reasons, never can.

While the trilogy is brilliant, the 'limited edition' boxset is a poor show as far as boxsets go. Wii discs are and will always be worthless, certainly not collectors items, like some truly rare games. The digital versions are were it's at.

I think the true culprit is Gamestop's Pricing. Metroid Prime Trilogy is $49.99/$44.99 at Gamestop and seems to be always available online.

Those First two listings were selling high before the initial "Reprints". Back then Gamestop was pricing Metroid Prime Trilogy in the Heavy $80s or $90s along with Xenoblade. Then the White Box versions started to show up and now they're in the $40s.

I simply don't care since it's just a port. The gamepad support would be decisive for me. I'm not getting it. Already have it on Wii and I honestly prefer both GC games over "new play control" versions.

I shame the people that actually think these people are "scalpers". If anything they are just normal gamers or collectors that was just trying to make a profit off of something that collectors would buy. This isn't something you see everyday like amiibos, so the "high" price is reasonable. Just because one dumb collector said something dumb and greedy, doesn't mean everybody that does the same thing as him are dumb and greedy too. Not like getting a digital rerelease matter to these type of people. Digital rerelease /=/ less rare. I not even a collector yet I know this stuff. Lastly, the people that actually lower the price are really nice instead of panicing. Normally you'll have to pay a hundred dollars for something like this, so 0-50 dollars is a steal for collectors. The people that actually making fun of these sellers deserve a slap on the shoulder.

Owned two of the Collector's Editions of the game.Paid 60 for the first one from GameStop. (Was shocked to see it there at all.), and kept it. Found somebody selling a second copy a few years later for $20, which I bought and resold for about $70.

I have no problem with the people selling these rare things for high prices. However, I do not feel bad that everyone gets to enjoy these games and the people who own the property make money instead of eBay or third party sellers.

I'm fine with this being on the eShop. If I had a physical copy I would hold onto it. Selling now is not the best way to cash in on your investment it will go back up in value. But if I could find one for around $40 I would just hold onto it and not sell it.

@AceSpadeS I had the same thought. If anything this will just get people interested in the game again. Its inevitable that someday in the next five to ten years that it won't be available for digital distribution. But again I would hope for a disc rerelease in HD for Wii U, unlikely, but I can dream.

It is always nice to own a collectors item (I too own a copy of the Metroid Prime Trilogy, though I had no plans on selling it), but I could never begrudge Nintendo for making a game available again to a new audience, and at such a great value as well.

@Crimzonlogic Hard to say, based on SMG2 and Punch out in the US it will likely be between 11am PST and 6 pm PST. I've considered buying it online from work as it will be nearly 8GB and will take some time to download.

For my own resale markup history, I sold .hack Part 4 for the PS2 @ about $140 new just this last September, when most of the posted sales were hovering above $300. I originally received the game as a gift back when it sold for $50, but I never got around to it. RPG's tend to be rare, so I can understand wanting to get the most for a rare product.

The idea of a rare game being accepted as an expensive privilege harkens back to the time when gaming truly was a boutique market. (Hence the old names of stores such as Electronics Boutique.) Yes, there is a certain mystique of rare game hunting which has been lost, with the end of the boutique era. Personally, though, I believe the time is right for gaming to become more accessible.

Allowing the possibility to acquire cheaper, more basic alternatives of what is known in Japan as special "Omake Boxes" (Metroid Prime Trilogy is an example of one) is the right thing to do.

Okay, First, I have no sympathy for scalpers who buy up 60 dollar games just to sell them later for 300 bucks a pop. Second, this doesn't even trend properly since several hard to get and desirable games have been released on a VC service for a reasonable price (Earthbound being the most prominent example) and it never effected the eBay scalper price. I like this trend since I try to collect games I enjoyed playing over the years, and I prefer a physical copy to display on my shelf.

Here's to hoping Conkers Bad Fur Day gets a VC release too so that I don't have to pay upwards of 80 bucks to get a loose copy with a torn label and grime on the connectors. Also, online prices did not change when it was remade for Xbox either.

Bought this used on eBay for around $90-$100 some year or two plus ago, coming with no (soon defunct) Club Nintendo code, but a large T-shirt, sealed player's guide, and (somewhat tape-laden) poster. I prefer to sell off physical copies when I go digital (save games which save progress on-media), but not sure I wanna part with mine now, considering what the disc would go for. I mean, it'd undoubtedly sell for more than the ten bucks I'll pay for no load times/sounds, but still... Prolly'll just hang onto it, maybe lend it to my friends.

@AshFoxX That's partly because the remake of Conker on Xbox (Conker: Live and Reloaded) just isn't as good as the original. They removed all of the cool local multiplayer games and replaced them with a crappy online team deathmatch type thing (which you can't even play properly anymore thanks to no Xbox Live on original Xboxes) and the censorship on some parts, unbelievably, was actually increased. That, and the fact that carts are just more collectible than discs anyway.

I'm hugely surprised that Banjo Kazooie and Tooie, even Perfect Dark were ported to Xbox Live Arcade (as Microsoft now own Rare) but not other games in Rare's back catalogue like Conker, Jet Force Gemini and Blast Corps....I think they're really missing a trick here and even though I have those games on N64, I'd love to see them made more widely available for a reasonable price.

I'd still like to have a physical copy mainly due to the fact that digital copies of games are great for the gamers, they have zero resale value should you become bored with the game itself. Due to the nature of digital downloads, that's the hard decision to make if you would ever want to sell a few games for something new.

Only a physical copy has the ability to retain value. A digital copy has zero resale value.

That being said, those wanting the original Metroid Prime Trilogy should buy it now if you want that gap in your collection filled.

Meh, collectors in all fields complain when something is reprinted/reteleased. I understand the frustration but at the same time, that's the risk of collecting for profit; markets and interest shift and something could sell for hundreds one day and pennies the next. It certainly isn't the company's responsibility to maintain the value of someone's collection. I'm a big collector of many things but I collect them because I like them and I would love to think that I can sell some of it off in really tough times but I would be fine if it wasn't worth anything special because I bought them for me, not because I can resell.

There are risks to reselling. While a product is in its print-run, nothing wrong w/ reselling at x price, or a significant amount cheaper, if the average resell value is reasonable. If the average resell value is expensive, nothing wrong w/, & it's much better to(for various reasons), resell only a significant amount cheaper than the common/average resell value, & not the expensive resell value. Once an item has ended its official print-run, it's almost a gloves-off on pricing, but not quite. Nothing wrong w/ making a profit w/in reasonable limits. There's also no point in competing price-wise w/ getting it new off-the shelf, or new legally d/ld, unless the reseller is cheaper. Anyway, everyone has their viewpoints, I have mine.

I remember reading somewhere awhile back about the future possibility of digital (game) downloads, having a possible resale value, like selling an activation key; sorta like reselling a copy of an OS that requires an activation key purchase. It would also be nice, if Nintendo supported a reasonable # of (hardware) generations, of backward compatibility, like 2, or 3, for example. As for software, like VC/WW/WC/DSiW/3DSW/WUW, it would be really nice if Nintendo supported infinite bwc, since all that's required is the system itself, to run. Obviously, current profits, & the supposed costs of perfect porting to each new hardware platform, just wouldn't make this a reality. As an alternative, I'd be up for a reasonable # of (hardware) generations, for virtual backward compatibility, like 2, or 3 mentioned above.

As someone who owns the original, physical copy, I still support this. More people should be allowed to own it. Neither this game nor Xenoblade are legitmately rare games, as there are quite a few copies floating around out there. There's a big difference between a rare game and a game being sold for more than what it is worth. Look no further than this game and Xenoblade to see what I mean. Neither game is rare, just gouged a lot because people tried to scalp them, and probably succeeded.

I personally didn't spend much on my copies to begin with, since I shopped smart and not like a rabid gorilla who bought from the first seller I saw on ebay.

This pretty much deconfirms GameCube games on eShop. If they're rereleasing the rerelease of a GameCube series, it's probably their way of making up for it. I never cared about GameCube in the first place, though it would be nice to finally play F-Zero GX.

@PlywoodStickYeah. I think that if Nintendo released the game on disks in the same package, exactly the same as the older copies, I could understand people being upset. The problem is that clearly, a lot of people want the trilogy because they just want to play the games, not because of the inherent value of a limited edition copy of the game. It's like the problem with Skyward Sword or XenoBlade Chronicles. Copies of the game cost as much as if not more than the original price, despite being used. They are expensive because the game is excellent, but too few copies were made. They're hoarding the experience, not trying to get a fair price for a rare item.

For that reason, I don't think it was wrong at all of Nintendo to release digital copies of the game. Games should be like books, valuable as collectibles because of their nostalgia factor (as in playing Wind Waker on the GameCube, rather than the Wii U version) or if they were released in a limited edition case or something (like how signed copies of old, leather bound books can be valuable). The actual content should become less valuable over time, the medium being what the copies valuable. Forcing people to pay 100$ for a game so they can play it just because it's the only version of the game isn't right in my opinion.